Saved By Temptation
by Bright Silver Lady of Midnight
Summary: The sweet apples were out of Zoë's reach, but she could still taste them on the back of their tongue. It drove her insane, partially because she knew she couldn't have them. It was the same with him, except she never lost her taste for apples.


Maybe it was the sweet words he spoke to her; how pretty he said she was, how wise, how talented.... Maybe it was because she didn't know any better; she'd never encountered anybody who would use her the way he did. Maybe it was his attractive physique; maybe it was the fact that he made her feel pretty. Zoë Nightshade would never know why, exactly, she fell as hard for Hercules as she did. She had one guess that she thought was better than all the others; one guess that she thought was higher than the others she'd tormented herself with for over an eon:

She couldn't have him.

That was it. That was possibly the largest reason Zoë chased after Hercules. Even when Hera, the queen of the heavens herself, forbid Zoë and her sisters from ever taking an apple from the tree, not only the Hesperides, but Eris, got into that tree. That was when Ladon was placed to guard the sweetest apples in the universe. That was when the lingering taste of those wonderful apples tormented Zoë for the rest of eternity. Because, even though she'd eaten her fill of them many times before, there was one simple reason she so desperately needed those apples:

She couldn't have them.

And so along came Hercules. He was good-looking and funny. He made Zoë feel smart and wonderful, which is what drew her to him to begin with. Then, once she saw how truly amazing he was, she nearly gave in. But instead, hanging onto the last thread of her dignity and her honor to her sisters, she convinced him to do his labor first. She told him what to do. She told him how to do it. She gave him everything he could've ever asked from her on a silver platter, but he needed more. He needed her. For the same reason she needed him:

He couldn't have her.

And, for that simple reason, he was angered greatly. He revealed himself to her slowly, piece by piece, as if adjusting a frightened animal to a new environment. His temper, his controlling habits, his drinking. She accepted him as slowly as he carefully revealed his true nature. Because she was so blinded by her love for him, she didn't notice when he became as violent as he did. She overlooked his habits; she made excuses for him. When he asked for her body and her soul, she forged him Anaklusmos. The tide that catches one by surprise, just as he had caught her surprised and unguarded, dragging her under the waves which suffocated her. Hercules left soon after with his gift in the sheath at his hip. It was when she realized the terrible truth that Hercules had seen just before his departure:

They couldn't have each other.

As she soon found out, Hercules didn't care. He'd had hundreds of other women, maybe even thousands. He'd been married with kids before he murdered them. All of this, she found, was believable. It made her heart heavy and her throat thick to think about it, but she knew down to the depths of her soul that what she heard was no lie.

As she knew, he'd moved on. If he'd even been there to begin with. That was far from the worst part. Her sisters, now, scorned her. They treated her like the dirt beneath their feet. The four women who she could tell anything to. The four women who promised to always stand behind her to catch her fall. Zoë realized the horrible truth when she was alone, near Ladon, one day:

They would not have her.

So Zoë Nightshade, alone and afraid, left her sisters before they could leave her. For countless days and nights she slept on her own in the woods, eating what she could. She was hungry, thirsty, and tired. She was homesick. But, at least now, she grew out of her love for Hercules. It was quickly replaced by hatred. He promised he'd always be right by her side, so where was he? He forced her out of her home. Why not at least keep up his end of a deal? The hatred for Hercules alone was quickly replaced with men in general. If not for men, she wouldn't be in this mess. Her name was slandered and forgotten about:

Nobody would have her.

Zoë Nightshade would always be able to remember the night she was saved. She was lying in a glen; the long grass her bed and the wildflowers her pillow. She stared up at the silver moon, a shining silver disc in the sky. It was beautiful, on that cool summer's night, but Zoë was too exhausted to enjoy it properly. She stared up at the beautiful stars, missing out on their splendor, but willing herself to fall asleep. Each one twinkled before her sleepy eyes. She'd always loved them, but soon enough her eyes slowly drifted shut, until she heard a voice ask her how she faired. It was the musical voice of an angel, so Zoë opened her eyes to see a beautiful young woman staring down at her. Zoë realized something soon after:

Artemis would have her.

And so she spent the happiest days of her life running through the woods with her immortal sisters. Not once again did she yearn for the soothing company of her four birth sisters; she had so many here, each one even closer than the Hesperides. The best days of Zoë's life were spent with this family of hers, until her death, more than an eon later. At the hands of her father, Zoë's immortal life ended. Her form was put in the stars, and the second before she died she knew one thing for sure:

Artemis had saved her.


End file.
